Build composable systems that let customers configure 20% for differentiation in competitive markets
In supply-constrained markets where whichever company finds the talent wins, off-the-shelf software makes you a commodity. Instead of building fixed cookie-cutter features, create composable building blocks where customers start with 80-90% pre-built templates but can configure the remaining 20% to match their unique workflows and differentiators. This turns your software from a utility into their competitive advantage. The key insight: in competitive industries, companies need to stand out to attract talent/customers, and their secret sauce often lives in manual processes and spreadsheets. Giving them flexibility to encode that secret sauce into software creates stickiness and value that fixed products cannot match.
When to use
When building for supply-constrained industries (staffing, retail, hospitality, healthcare) where customers compete for the same finite pool of workers or customers. When your customers have unique workflows that are competitive differentiators. When you hear customers say 'I need to stand out from competitors' or 'our secret sauce is in our process.' Best for vertical SaaS or workflow tools serving competitive markets.
Don't do this
Building one-size-fits-all software and expecting customers to adapt their workflows to your tool. Forcing customers into rigid templates when their competitive advantage comes from unique processes. Building deep custom features for each customer instead of composable primitives they can configure themselves.
3 Founders Who Did This
Built composable identity infrastructure with low-code building blocks, drag-and-drop workflow builders, and a marketplace with 17+ third-party integrations, letting customers configure verification for their specific use cases.
Built composable API with modular building blocks (invoicing, AP/AR, payments, compliance) that customers configure and embed into their own products for differentiated financial workflows
Rebuilt product as composable Legos where customers start with templates but configure 20% to match unique workflows and differentiators